Tag: Freedom

Question Authority? You may have heard this slogan thrown around before, but what does it actually mean? What are people encouraging you to do when they say to question authority?

Every aspect of authority must be analyzed and questioned. From National Leaders to the Vatican, Kings, Professors, Doctors, Parents, Science, Religion, the Police, and everything in between.

This doesn’t mean you should act like a brat and be disrespectful to those who are in positions of authority. You should always maintain your composure, your dignity and be cordial wherever applicable. Nay, the idea to question authority is much more profound than a simple knee-jerk, entitled response.

The ultimate quest for human kind is to understand the meaning of life, why we are here, and if possible, how it all came to be; the pursuit of true and absolute knowledge.

The path we’ve been paving since the dawn of civilization has been fueled by this initiative. Every monument to our progress is an achievement towards this ultimate goal that we collectively chase as a species.

Such a quest demands free thinking, the freedom to explore new ideas and to test theories.

On this road to understanding who we are and why we are here, there have been multiple blockades that have attempted to hinder the chariots of progress. All of which have failed to cease the quest completely, but nevertheless, it required enormous effort to combat them.

Questioning authority doesn’t mean to reply in a childish manner with “why” every time your parents or a police officer asks you to do something within reason.

Questioning authority is carefully examining those in power and assessing if what they’re saying or doing is precluding the quest for knowledge and/or is factual or misleading.

Such preclusion varies in form. This could be a militant police state oppressing its citizens into submission which inhibits the free exchange of ideas. It could be religious leaders telling you that the earth was made in 7 days, or even scientists who allow their biases to alter their published findings.

Sometimes questioning can lead to confrontation that would require civil disobedience; other times the situation can prove to be resolved with a public expose` or peaceful assembly. Some extreme cases could result in war. In any event, we must be brave and always question authority.

Everything must be questioned in order to be pursuant of the quest for knowledge and understanding, especially authority; which possesses the greatest threat to derail our progress as human beings.